Hoping To Join A Small Elite Group Of 250 Gamers - Notte Bad!

Regardless of who you follow in the WAFL, you wouldn’t meet many supporters who haven’t heard of the name Tony Notte.

The exciting, high-flying defender, who was originally recruited as a key forward, has been at the Swan Districts Football Club since he was just 13 years old.

Known to have played in arguably the best Colts side ever to take the field, Notte has been a valiant serviceman for the club, entering his 14^th season in the Swans League side.

After being at the club for such a significant amount of time, it comes as no surprise to learn that he is just 13 games away from reaching a milestone that only five other Swans have achieved… 250 games in the black and white!

Upon reaching this milestone, Tony will join a list of other Swan Districts champions that consists of; Bill Walker (305), Stan Nowotny (278), Tallan Ames (263), Travis Edmonds (262) and Keith Narkle (254).

Notte’s step up into senior football started with a bang when he was selected with pick 20 in the 2007 National Draft by the West Coast Eagles.

2007 was a year to remember for Tony. Not only was he able to live his dream by being drafted into the AFL, he represented WA in the AFL Under 18 Championships that same year and won a premiership with the Swans Colts.

Unfortunately, 2010 would also be one to remember, but for different reasons. He was delisted by West Coast at the end of that season and dropped before the WAFL Grand Final, after being named as an emergency on the interchange bench, where his team mates would go on to be Premiership players.

Since then, it has been onwards and upwards for the key defender, using his disappointment to take his game to another level, with motivation of proving the doubters wrong.

Some of his more recent accolades include:

• Two-time winner of the Swan Districts Best & Fairest Award (2013 and 2018),
• Finished in the top 3 of the Best & Fairest Award six times in the last seven seasons,
• Six-time representative of WA in the WA State Games (2014-2019),
• Swan Districts Life Membership (2015),
• Swan Districts League-side Captain, and
• Soon-to-be a 250 gamer.

With the current lockdown due to the worldwide Coronavirus pandemic, Tony is still hoping to be able to reach this impressive milestone in 2020.

Ever the clubman, Tony continues to put the club’s successes ahead of his own individual achievements.

‘I’d love to get to that milestone obviously, but with the side we are putting together this season, the goal is to play finals.’ he said.

‘The list of players to reach 250 games is a short list.

‘With the club’s history and the amount of players that have been through the club, when the time comes I will definitely look back and think about how it’s been a massive achievement to be llisted among the limited players that have already done it.

‘Until then, I would love to play on this year, and next year, and help the club win some more games.’

Make sure you are there to support the boys when the 2020 Optus WAFL Premiership Season kicks off.